


can't you see yourself by my side?

by ryseling



Series: The Less I Know, The Better [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Hair-pulling, Hand Jobs, Intercrural Sex, M/M, Marking, Miscommunication, Multi, Not Actually Unrequited Love, POV Caleb Widogast, Pining, Possibly Unrequited Love, Threesome - F/M/M, Unrequited Love, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, but it's me so you know it's really, everyone's a switch, i keep upstaging myself in levels of filth in my writing, no beta we die like men, not that it's super relevant in this fic in particular but they are, under-negotiated relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:28:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21825157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryseling/pseuds/ryseling
Summary: Caleb knew what love looked like. Knew what it felt like, too. Knew why the scar on his palm itched and tingled sometimes and why the ocean always reminded him of verdant skin. Knew why he always thought of blueberries and purple eyes and sweet laughter when he saw people dancing or smelled sugar in the air. Knew exactly what the fluttery feeling in his stomach meant when he heard either of their voices curl around his name.More importantly, though, he knew that Fjord and Jester lovedeach other. And he should know better than to get in the way of that. Anyone with any fuckingsensewouldn’t get in the way of that.But he had looked into Jester’s eyes, and into Fjord’s, paralyzed by their attention on him, and he had saidyes.Or, Fjord and Jester are together, and Caleb - hopelessly in love with them as he is - agrees to a threesome.
Relationships: Fjord/Jester Lavorre, Fjord/Jester Lavorre/Caleb Widogast, established fjorester
Series: The Less I Know, The Better [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1573207
Comments: 22
Kudos: 298





	can't you see yourself by my side?

**Author's Note:**

> I should be working on finals, but my brain said "smut writing is stress relief" so here we are.
> 
> I am DEEP into the Fjord/Jester/Caleb ship and I think it's absolutely tragic that there isn't more content for them, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.
> 
> I started writing this after episode 77, so I guess the setting would probably be around that time?? I'm 100% not ready to deal with current events in C2 right now though so we'll see if I don't end up diverging from canon later on in this series
> 
> Title from "The Less I Know The Better" by Tame Impala.

Caleb realized that he was in over his head as soon as he set foot in the room. The space itself was innocent enough - all the rooms in the Lavish Chateau were perfectly pleasant and comfortable - but the shift in atmosphere that came with it set his skin prickling and his teeth on edge. It was only early evening, dusk not yet settled in, and the rusty orange sunlight spilling in through the pale, sheer white curtains made the whole setting seem almost dreamlike. Caleb knew it _wasn’t_ a dream, if only because he would never dream up something like _this_ , but everything seemed blanketed in that surreal sense of unreality that came from sleep (or from the peaceful kind, anyway). Everything was too tranquil and quiet and perfect: nothing immediately threatening their lives, a concrete goal laid out before them, safety and comfort in their pitstop in Nicodranas, the rest of the Mighty Nein downstairs enjoying good drink and good food.

Then there was Jester and Fjord.

Nothing else he had ever experienced could compare to the way his insides had given an almighty _lurch_ when Jester had leaned over in the middle of their meal to ask, voice none-too-hushed (though fortunately still drowned out by Beau and Nott’s loud bickering) but tempered with surprising shyness, if he would care to come upstairs with them. His eyes had immediately darted towards Fjord, finding the half-orc already watching him, neutral but for some faint, subtle thing in his face betraying so much uncertainty that it made Caleb’s heart ache. Jester had looked at him with very poorly concealed (and very tenuous) hope in her expression, her tail flicking back and forth and knocking against the legs of her chair, leaning further towards him with anticipation of his response.

(His response to the invitation. The invitation to come upstairs with them. With Jester and Fjord. Both of them. The invitation to come upstairs with Jester and Fjord, the implication inescapable with the little wiggle of Jester’s eyebrows or the quiet intensity of Fjord’s gaze. _That_ invitation.)

(Caleb’s brain had maybe broken a little bit.)

(Again.)

His common sense had told him to decline.

The whole party had known about Jester’s crush on Fjord since the beginning, and the two of them had clearly always shared a close bond. They had known each other even before the Mighty Nein, after all. They had survived the Iron Shepherds together. Caleb wasn’t quite sure when it had become _more_ (perhaps it always had been, and they were just better at subtlety than the rest of the group - Caleb included - gave either of them credit for), but since the Kiln, since Fjord had broken his pact with Uk’otoa and cast off the pretenses he had worn around them for _months_ , the two of them had kept closer to each other than ever. It was harder to see when the whole party was together, but Caleb had caught glimpses: sitting next to each other at meals; a gentle bump of shoulders when walking beside each other; Jester eagerly fiddling with the flower crown that Reani had crafted for Fjord with no protests from the half-orc; Fjord quietly presenting Jester with pastries from whatever new locale they were visiting; the way Jester had been the first to pull Fjord into a tight hug when they had tugged him from that seaweed dome on the side of the Kiln; the smiles and laughter and fond looks they shared between them when they were off by themselves or when the focus of the group seemed to be on other things.

Caleb knew what love looked like. Knew what it felt like, too. Knew why the scar on his palm itched and tingled sometimes and why the ocean always reminded him of verdant skin. Knew why he always thought of blueberries and purple eyes and sweet laughter when he saw people dancing or smelled sugar in the air. Knew exactly what the fluttery feeling in his stomach meant when he heard either of their voices curl around his name.

More importantly, though, he knew that Fjord and Jester loved _each other_. And he should know better than to get in the way of that. Anyone with any fucking _sense_ wouldn’t get in the way of that.

But he had looked into Jester’s eyes, and into Fjord’s, paralyzed by their attention on him, and he had said _yes_.

Now, Caleb hovered at the edge of the room as Jester skipped over to where Fjord was standing by the edge of the single, large bed. She laughed as she hooked a hand in his collar and pulled him down into a kiss, her other hand coming up to grip the half-orc’s bicep. Fjord, though he seemed momentarily startled, made a low little huffing sound against her mouth before he curled his hands around her waist. The ease with which they moulded themselves together made something warm curl low in Caleb’s stomach (and something else curl tight and vice-like around his chest).

Jester pulled back and made a face at Fjord. “You taste like _seaweed_ ,” she complained, pouting up at him with a little wrinkle of her nose that might not have been meant to be as cute as it was.

Fjord snorted a little. “Some of us _like_ vegetables, Jes,” he informed her, a thread of amusement lacing his tone.

“ _You_ just like ocean-y stuff,” she replied matter-of-factly. A heartbeat later, she grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. “ _Y’know_ , ‘cause you’re a _seaman_.”

Fjord huffed and pinched her side at the innuendo, quirking a fond little smile when she jolted ticklishly and dissolved into giggles.

Caleb found his gaze slowly falling to the floor. Watching the pair of them interact was entertaining, and endearing, and made something ugly claw its way up the inside of his throat. Their ease with each other was obvious. The atmosphere around them was comfortable and content. Everything they did seemed done with a tenderness that was as easy as breathing.

The wizard had never felt more out of place.

“Caleb?”

He abruptly looked back up, finding them both staring at him. It was Fjord who had spoken, and the paladin stepped away from the cleric to take a pace and a half towards him instead (Caleb wanted to tell him to go back, to hold Jester again, half because she deserved the attention more and half because of some deep, selfish desire he had to see them pressed close again). He stared at Caleb, brows slightly furrowed, and opened his mouth, though no words came out to ask the question clearly on the tip of his tongue.

“What are you doing all the way over there, Cayleb?” Jester filled in for him, cocking her head to the side a bit. She extended one hand towards him, palm up in invitation. “You can come join us.”

Not a demand. Hardly even a suggestion. An offer. Simple and unassuming. Caleb found his body moving closer before his mind could catch up, reaching up to place his hand in Jester’s.

Even as Jester gently tugged him closer to them, Fjord was the one to draw him in first. The taller man caught Caleb by the hip as soon as he was within reach, his other hand sliding up the side of Caleb’s neck to cup his jaw. One claw brushed over his cheek, too soft to scratch, but still with a subtle promise of sharpness that made him feel a little weak-kneed.

“Okay?” Fjord checked, gold eyes so _close_ , the word ghosting gently across Caleb’s face.

“ _Ja_ ,” Caleb breathed.

The kiss Fjord pulled him into was slow, almost tentative, but for how deep and intent it was. The paladin pressed their mouths close and firm, and Caleb let out an involuntary sound when he felt Fjord’s tusks rub at his lips, a jolt shooting down his spine. He squeezed at Jester’s hand subconsciously to try to anchor himself, too swept up in his kiss with Fjord to notice the way she smiled in response.

Another brush of a claw over his cheek, and then Fjord was drawing away. Caleb leaned up after him, chasing the touch of his lips, but blinked his eyes back open and swiftly remembered himself when a low chuckle reached his ears. The half-orc was gazing down at him, a small, lopsided little smile pulling at his mouth. Caleb opened his mouth to say - _something_ , to apologize, maybe, but the words died on his tongue when the room’s other occupant began tugging insistently on his hand.

“I want a kiss _too_ , Cayleb!” Jester proclaimed with a pout, her other hand coming up to sandwich his hand between her palms.

Caleb half expected (half _wanted_ ) her to simply pull him in to connect their mouths as she had done with Fjord, but she didn’t. Instead, she tugged a little on his hands, not nearly enough to overbalance him even though the wizard _knew_ that she could lift him over her head without breaking a sweat, and kept pouting at him, waiting for him to come to her. Lips still tingling from his kiss with Fjord, it didn’t take long for him to give in to this, too, and move forward into Jester’s embrace.

The tiefling immediately pushed up into the contact, and Caleb felt her tail wrap around his ankle in lieu of her moving either of her hands. She kissed differently than Fjord, eager and quick where the other was deliberate and slow. She moved her lips against his with force - not demanding, but pressing against him in a way that pleaded for the same pressure in return. Caleb answered the call all too willingly, parting his lips just a bit to deepen the kiss, only to feel a bolt of heat shoot through him when Jester unexpectedly nipped at his lower lip with pointed teeth.

He gasped against her mouth, breaking the kiss for a moment. The broken contact granted him absolutely no respite whatsoever, as it turned out, as the cleric took the opportunity to press a kiss to his cheek, then his temple, then his jaw, still holding his hand in both of hers like a prize as she showered him in affectionate little pecks. All of the attention rattled something loose in Caleb’s chest, and he sucked in a ragged breath, blindly reaching back with his free hand for the other member of what was rapidly shaping up to be his undoing, unable to verbally articulate the sudden desire to have them both close.

Luckily, Fjord seemed to understand anyway, as he moved to take Caleb’s hand, giving it a squeeze as he crowded up behind the wizard. His other hand went to Caleb’s waist, and the human let out a quiet sound when the half-orc nudged into the soft strands of ginger hair at the back of his head. Jester giggled and leaned up to plant another kiss on his mouth, licking briefly at his lip as if to chase the sound, and Caleb felt a shudder roll through his whole body. Jester grinned at him, and Fjord rubbed his thumb over Caleb’s hip through the layer of fabric between their skin, both of them so very in his space.

“Not too much?” Fjord checked, and Caleb’s lashes fluttered in response to the low, smooth words spoken right into his ear.

“ _Nein_ , no,” he hastened to reply, the pulse of want that had settled itself in his gut from the moment Jester asked him to join them churning and heating at having them both bracketing him on either side like this. “Not too much.“

“Are you _suuure_ that it _won’t_ be too much?” Jester lilted, her tail dragging up his calf where he’d half-forgotten it was still curled around his leg. “We’re _really_ good, you know.”

Caleb couldn’t help but laugh, the sound propelled forward by the flutter that lived somewhere between his heart and his stomach.

“That is, ah, rather what I was hoping for,” he said, a small, lopsided smile sliding across his face.

Jester’s grin widened, and he heard Fjord snort behind him. 

“Smartass,” the half-orc muttered, pinching the human’s side just hard enough to make him jump, though Caleb could hear the smile in his tone.

Whatever he was going to respond with was wiped from his mind as Fjord snuck his fingers beneath the hem of his shirt, touch tentative at first, then more insistent when Caleb shivered at the light scrape of claws on his pale skin. A soft bite was given to the curve of his neck, digging in just enough to make him gasp. The tail around his leg tightened, and he clutched tighter at the hands he had gripped in his own. He blinked his eyes open (not quite certain when he had closed them) to find Jester bringing his hand up to her mouth and dusting a kiss across his knuckles, her eyes half-lidded and pupils a little wider than usual. Caleb swallowed thickly at the sight, molten heat unfurling itself low in his stomach, even though the action was entirely innocent. Fjord had his teeth on Caleb’s skin, but Jester was the one who looked like she was going to eat him alive. Instead of pouncing on him, though, she withdrew, stepping away and unwinding her tail from his leg.

A plaintive sort of noise worked its way out of Caleb’s throat. He cut himself off a moment too late to entirely silence it. He shouldn’t be greedy, he knew - he was lucky enough that they wanted him at all, he _couldn’t_ be greedy, not when he didn’t deserved any of this in the first place.

But Jester only flashed a particularly self-satisfied smile at him, using her hold on his hands to tug him eagerly the last few feet to the edge of the bed. She finally released him to flop out across the sheets, haphazardly kicking off her boots as she wriggled up the mattress, and setting to work on getting out of her dress. She whipped the fabric off over her head a moment later, the garment flying past Caleb’s head. He turned at a sputter from Fjord, watching the other man shoot a playfully stern look to the grinning tiefling as he set her dress aside.

“Impatient,” he teased, mouth quirking up unevenly around his tusks.

“Maybe _you’re_ just _slow_ , Fjord,” she retorted in a light, sing-song voice.

Caleb didn’t usually shy from banter within the group, but the fond, easy way they teased each other like this had him hovering awkwardly, uncertain where to situate himself. He felt relief wash over him when Jester sat up a bit to reach for him again, making hopeful grabby hands at him until he put first one knee, then the other on the mattress and scooted up towards her. He couldn’t help but laugh when she all but attacked his boots, tossing them away carelessly on the opposite side of the bed.

The sound was swiftly swallowed up by Jester’s mouth as she tugged him into another kiss. He had to catch himself on his hands to avoid falling on her, a startled sound morphing into a low, muffled moan when he felt her lap coyly at his lower lip. He trembled when she slipped her tongue into his mouth, fingers curling in the sheets as she licked away at the inside of his teeth. He could feel the hazy warmth of arousal spreading, twisting hot in his stomach and eliciting a high breath of a sound when she pushed her hands into his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp.

The mattress dipped behind him, and a moment later, a second set of hands was at his waist. “Can I take this off?” Fjord asked lowly, thumbing at the hem of the wizard’s shirt.

Caleb had to pull away from Jester to answer, lungs stuttering and tongue tripping over itself when she took the opportunity to seal her mouth against the hollow of his throat. He turned his head to glance over his shoulder, breath hitching when he found Fjord leaning over him with his broader frame, gold eyes searching, but with an edge of something Caleb barely dared name _hunger_ lurking beneath.

“ _Bitte_ ,” he managed to respond, and squirmed as Fjord’s hands brushed over his back and sides, rolling his shirt up past his chest. Caleb had to shift his weight to allow the half-orc to pull his arms out of the sleeves, prompting a displeased noise from Jester as she was forced away from Caleb’s neck.

The human’s arms buckled momentarily when she instead turned her attention to his exposed torso, hands greedily sweeping down his back and curling around to trail over his chest. He gasped and jerked when she brushed over a nipple, shutting his eyes at the sound of both a delighted giggle and a low, pleased rumble that met his reaction. Jester took to rubbing and pinching at the bud beneath her fingers, her other hand curling tight in Caleb’s hair and dragging him back to her mouth. Kisses and gentle bites were trailed down the line of his spine, Fjord’s broad hands holding his hips steady as the wizard found himself bucking against nothing, seeking friction.

He twitched when Jester’s tail crept up the outside of one leg, and he let out a startled yelp when it suddenly looped all the way around his upper thigh with a surprisingly strong grip and yanked him down. Their hips pressed flush together, and Caleb’s breath hissed out between his teeth at the sudden pressure against his cock, already hard between his legs. Jester didn’t so much as wince at the sudden weight of his body, instead hooking one leg over his hip and grinding against him.

They both gasped, and the hitch of the tiefling’s clothed breasts against his own chest had Caleb turning his head to nip and lick at the side of her neck, desperate to somehow return the pleasure that was rapidly consuming him. He was rewarded with another little hitch in Jester’s breathing, and she squirmed against him, the cradle of her hips rubbing over his length through layers of fabric. He swore he could feel the heat of her core even through her smallclothes, his cock twitching where it was trapped in his pants. She must have felt it, because she pulled at his hair with a moan, shifting her hips to grind against him with more intent. He bit at her clavicle to muffle his groan, sucking a dark mark into her blue skin.

He lifted his head when a deep, approving sound reached his ears. Fjord sat on the bed behind them, the verdant expanse of his chest exposed, and one of his hands shoved down the front of his trousers. Caleb saw the way the half-orc’s pupils dilated and his lips parted, swallowing when he saw them both suddenly watching him in return. The wizard was aware that he wasn’t breathing, eyes fixed on Fjord’s body, and a high, breathy moan forced its way out of his throat, strained, when the other man removed his hand from his pants and Caleb caught a glimpse of the bulge there.

“Fjord looks _good_ , doesn’t he?” Jester murmured sweetly, small fangs nibbling at the shell of Caleb’s ear and causing him to shudder.

“He would look even better if he would join us,” Caleb answered, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them.

The paladin’s ears flicked against the side of his head almost shyly, face flushing ruddy at their remarks. Caleb felt his own face warming as his words caught up to him, but Fjord didn’t look away.

“You got it,” he rasped, shifting over to balance on his hands and crawl forward, looming over both of them.

Jester shifted, wriggling backwards a bit to sit up more fully, pushing at Caleb’s shoulder. “You should _totally_ turn over so Fjord can _ravish_ you,” she advised him, beaming bright and mischievous, a look that promised trouble.

Caleb certainly couldn’t find it in himself to complain.

All three of them shifted and shuffled awkwardly for a few moments, before they resettled with Jester leaning up against the headboard, legs and arms wrapped around Caleb from behind, and Caleb opening his legs so Fjord could settle between them, leaning over the shorter man with a hand on each of his hips.

Their mouths met in a fervent kiss, tusks catching on the inside of Caleb’s mouth and drawing breathless sounds from the wizard. He arched beneath Fjord, pressing his body up against the larger one above over him. The half-orc made a noise like a growl in response, swallowing Caleb’s vocalizations greedily and sucking on his tongue.

Caleb both felt and heard the laugh that Jester pressed into the back of his neck. “Were you holding back, _Fjooord_?” she teased, one hand lifting to tug lightly at Fjord’s bangs and the other looping around Caleb’s waist to clasp over one of Fjord’s hands on his narrow hips.

Fjord pulled back with a gasp, his head tipping into Jester’s grip seemingly unconsciously. “Didn’t want to scare him off,” he murmured roughly, dipping down to nuzzle kisses and soft bites against Caleb’s collarbone.

The human almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the words. _They_ had invited _him_ to join them. Even if he _didn’t_ feel for them the way he did, he would count himself lucky that two people had wanted him enough to ask. Let alone two people who were already so happy together. Let _alone_ two people as impressive and wonderful as the two of _them_.

Caleb peeled his eyes open to meet Fjord’s gaze, the paladin peering back at him with pupils blown wide from where he was bent over Caleb’s chest. The human was sure he didn’t look much better. He reached out, shaky, and cupped Fjord’s cheek in his palm, his pale skin and Jester’s blue framing green between both of their hands.

“You won’t scare me off, Fjord,” he said clearly, holding eye contact as steadily as he could, nearly overwhelmed by those molten eyes staring back at him. “I am here because I want to be.”

And maybe that was too honest, too close to an admission of things he couldn’t bring himself to say, but it made the line of Fjord’s shoulders relax, so perhaps the risk was worth it.

When Fjord tipped his head to the side, kissing Caleb’s palm right against the thin, silvery scar of their pact, the wizard decided that it _definitely_ was.

“Well, then,” Fjord began, and Caleb shuddered reflexively at the suave, dark tone that slipped smoothly into the words, “Hold on tight, sweetheart.”

His heart was still tripping over itself at the pet name when Fjord lowered himself further and sucked a nipple into his mouth. The heat and pressure had Caleb arching hard, gasping wetly and twisting Fjord’s hair between his fingers. He felt his other hand get drawn back, fingers interlacing with cooler digits, and then there were teeth at his neck as Jester joined in the assault. The tiefling released Fjord’s hair to run her claws lightly from Caleb’s chest to his belly, giggling when he bowed his back to press into both touches, a sound suspiciously like a whine escaping him.

The pair of them worked in tandem, steadily unraveling Caleb at the seams with deft fingers and clever mouths. Soon enough, he was squirming so much that Fjord had to hold his hips down, nipping sharply at the skin just above his navel as if in reprimand, though it only served to make the human squirm harder. He shuddered when Jester let go of his hand to curl her fingers in his hair, pulling until his head was tipped back against her shoulder, gentle but firm, baring his throat. He moaned into her mouth when she leaned over to kiss him, his mouth open and pliant for her tongue and teeth. He jolted at the growl he felt rumble against his skin, breaths hitching and catching around a whine when Fjord moved one broad hand to palm at him, the heat of his skin dizzying even through the fabric of Caleb’s smallclothes. A ragged cry worked its way out of his throat when Jester curled her tail around to press the flat side of its arrow tip against his bulge right alongside Fjord’s hand.

Jester all but purred against his lips, her hips shifting where they were half-pinned beneath the wizard’s body.

“Cayleb,” she murmured, dragging half-distracted kisses across his cheek and jaw, voice husky, “I‘d _really_ like it if you would _fuck_ me, now.”

He gasped sharply, eyes flying open and body jerking between the two solid weights surrounding him. He could only partially see Jester’s face from this angle, her hand still keeping his head firmly in place against her shoulder. With her leaning over him, though, he could see the way her eyes were wide, a purplish blush laying soft and warm under her skin, and her pupils were round and black, nearly swallowing the violet around them.

“We don’t _have_ to if you don’t _want_ to!” she added quickly, and he swore he could break at her earnest sweetness. “I just wanted to let you _know_ that _I_ want to.”

And wasn’t _that_ incredible? Jester Lavorre - bright, charming, utterly beautiful Jester Lavorre - wanted _him_ , of all people.

Him, who didn’t deserve it in the slightest.

But he would not deny her anything, least of all something that he himself wanted so badly.

He swallowed dryly, nodding as best he could in his position, hips shifting restlessly. He froze again at a pressure against his hip, muscles locking and a soft moan spilling from his mouth when the half-orc still between his legs rubbed the wizard’s length through his smallclothes.

“Words, Caleb,” Fjord intoned, his voice holding the same low, soothing quality that it always did, but somehow steely underneath. Commanding. Caleb shivered at the sound.

“ _Ja_ , yes,” he agreed, shifting one leg to nudge his heel pointedly against Fjord’s thigh. “I would be more than happy to, if you would be so kind as to let me up.”

Fjord drew back, leaving Caleb aching with no pressure on his dick as Jester withdrew her tail as well. He sat up on his knees, moaning when the half-orc pulled him against his chest and kissed him fiercely. Jester sat up behind him, pressing herself against his back as her hands worked down to hook in the edges of his smallclothes, dragging them down his hips decisively when he nodded at her. He had to shift awkwardly to help her get them off entirely, but soon enough he was completely exposed to them. He hissed as Fjord dragged one hand all the way down his body, starting at his sternum and ending by wrapping around his now bared cock.

Caleb jerked forward involuntarily, thrusting into the firm circle of Fjord’s fingers. The paladin steadied him with a hand on his stomach, the light press of claws on his belly and the rough drag of callouses along his length having Caleb arching his spine sharply. He clung tightly to Fjord’s shoulders, soon panting too much to properly return the kiss, hips rutting forward in fitful, involuntarily movements. Fjord pulled back to suck at his lower lip and trail hot kisses along his jaw, rumbling against his skin as he dragged a calloused thumb over the leaking head of Caleb’s cock.

Caleb cried out loudly, and moved to shove weakly at Fjord’s chest. “I’m close,” he warned.

Fjord hummed, placing a gentle peck on his lips. “Kind of the point,” he countered, though he did slow his movements enough to draw the wizard back from the edge.

Caleb shook his head, still twitching intermittently with the catch of callouses against sensitive skin. “Not, ah, not before Jester,” he stumbled over the words, thoughts only half-formed coming out as even-more-jumbled speech.

Blue arms wrapped around his waist, and he had to swallow a keening sound when he felt Jester’s bare breasts press against his back, realizing she must have taken the time to remove her brassiere while Fjord kept him occupied.

“You _could_ always come more than _once_ ,” she pointed out conversationally, nipping lightly at his earlobe.

“ _Well_...” Fjord interjected, voice almost squeaking as he sent a squint at the grinning tiefling, his face flushing. “ _Maybe_ we can save that for another time? This is... already a lot.”

Caleb thought to protest - to tell Fjord again that there was no need to hold back, that he wasn’t going to be scared off, that he _wanted_ this - but his brain had stalled out over the implications of _another time_.

Jester pouted, but relented, “Oh, _okaaay_.” She pressed a gentler kiss to the nape of Caleb’s neck before drawing back, hand drifting down his arm to take his hand, gently tugging. “Come here, Cayleb,” she requested, soft and near-pleading.

He followed where she led, ending up over top of her again, balancing on his hands and knees. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her: planes and planes of smooth blue skin, the soft curve of her hips, the thick, strong splay of her thighs, the supple rise of her breasts and their small, dark peaks, the purplish blush high on the sweet apples of her cheeks, and the way her lips were parted as she stared back up at him in return.

“Gorgeous,” was breathed against his ear, and he drew in a shaky breath as Fjord moulded himself to the wizard’s back, one hand going to his hip. “ _Both_ of you.”

Caleb felt himself gasp slightly at the words, while Jester bit her lip and squirmed beneath him, the flush on her face steadily spreading to her ears and chest. Fjord made a low, rolling, thrumming sound in his chest, and kissed at the curve of Caleb’s shoulder, thumb stroking gently over the pale skin of the human’s hip.

“You can touch, Cayleb,” Jester told him, just an edge of desperation in the breathless way she uttered his name.

Caleb felt the feverish heat of arousal burn hotter inside him, and he bent his head to put his mouth to her skin. He pressed a kiss to her breastbone first, almost chaste, before turning his head to nip at the skin of her breast, listening as she gasped when he sank his teeth into a nipple, enjoying the way she shivered and moaned when he soothed the skin with a lick next. Even as he focused his efforts on lavishing Jester with attention, though, Caleb felt hyperaware of Fjord pressed against his back, the hard, hot press of his cock against the crease between the wizard’s ass and thigh, like Fjord was forcing his hips to keep still and not just rub himself off against Caleb right then and there and make a _mess_ of him. Just the thought of it had him arching back, pushing against the half-orc with a desperate, ragged little noise that made him flush to hear himself, so fucking _wanting_ for Fjord to do exactly that.

The paladin swore into his ear, turning his head to bite at the junction of Caleb’s neck and shoulder, hard enough that he _knew_ it would bruise. The thought of being marked from this made a shudder ripple down Caleb’s spine, his cock twitching and leaking against the soft skin of Jester’s thigh. She let out a whine, squirming and arching up against him, before she shifted, catching him by the wrist and dragging his hand down to her wet heat. Her breath hitched when he brushed against her folds, and she gave a full-throated moan- loud and _beautifully_ wanton - when he crooked his fingers and slid one inside of her. Caleb hissed through his teeth at the way she tightened around the digit, pushing his face back into her chest to give his mouth something to do besides groaning uselessly when Fjord moved as well, rocking his hips with intent, rutting right up against the curve of his ass.

Caleb felt overwhelmed all over again, with Jester clenching around his finger and Fjord grinding slow and purposeful against him, so much fucking _skin_ , so much _contact_ that he felt weightless even with a hand on one hip and a leg thrown over the other anchoring him in place. His hips stuttered against Jester’s thigh when she begged eagerly for another finger, all but throbbing at the delighted little _coo_ she made when he complied, at the way she shifted and sighed and fucked herself back against his hand. Her tail tightened around his thigh, and she _purred_ when he spread his fingers, curling them against her walls and holding her wide and wet and wanting. Then, unexpectedly, Fjord was adjusting, shifting an arm around Caleb to press his hand, big and broad, over Jester’s belly, thumb moving to rub against her clit, and the pressure made the tiefling throw her head back, hips pushing up almost hard enough to buck _both_ of them off of the bed, and then she was _coming_ with a long, loud keen.

She clung to Caleb’s shoulders tightly, rolling her hips back against both of their fingers as she rode out her orgasm, her ragged breaths trailing into a deep, happy sigh when her muscles mostly stopped spasming. She twitched and shivered all over again when the paladin rolled his thumb against her again, oversensitive, her eyelashes fluttering.

“Cayleb,” she breathed, leveraging herself up on his shoulders to press hurried little kisses across his skin, one brushing over the dark splotch Fjord left on the side of his neck, and the human couldn’t help the hitch of his hips against her skin. She whined softly at the feeling, squirming and dragging her claws up along the trail of his spine and into his hair. “I’m ready, ready for _youu_ -”

Caleb let out a strangled sound when a buck of Fjord’s hips pushed him into a grind against Jester’s hip, nearly fucking _dizzy_ with lust. “Are- you’re sure? Not - too much - ” he tried, strained.

The cleric swiftly shook her head, hair flying. “No, no, I _want_ it,” she rushed out in response, reaching down to tug at his wrist and draw his fingers out of her. They made a soft, wet noise when they retracted that all three of them shuddered to hear. She pushed at his shoulder until there was enough space between them to wrap her hand around his cock, fingers covered in her own slick, nibbling at the shell of his ear. “Want you to _fuck me_ , Cayleb.”

Caleb hissed, squeezing his eyes shut and nodding frantically. “ _Ja, ja, bitte_ ,” he rushed out, dragging in a ragged gasp when her hand finally released him. All three of them shifted a bit, Jester shoving a pillow beneath her to prop her hips up, and then Fjord reached around the wizard’s body and took him in hand, guiding him back down over Jester with a steady pressure against his back, and rubbed the head of Caleb’s cock against her folds.

The half-orc kept him there for another agonizing moment, shifting over to kiss gently at the burning skin at the top of Caleb’s spine as the human _trembled_ between their bodies, and then finally, _finally_ , Fjord was guiding him into Jester’s velvet heat, slow and easy and slick. Caleb’s arms nearly gave out by the time he was pressed flush against blue skin, only the paladin’s grip on his hips and the cleric’s tail still wrapped around his thigh keeping him upright. His hips jerked when Jester clenched experimentally around him, apologies instantly spilling from his lips when she gasped sharply, only to be cut off when she curled her fingers in his hair and pulled, dragging him up to lock them together in a searing kiss, nipping his lower lip and licking into his mouth to swallow his desperate noises.

“ _Move_ , Cayleb, _please_ ,” Jester choked out, clenching around his length again and grinding back against him.

Caleb was powerless to do anything but comply. He pulled back, sucking a breath in through his teeth at the slick slide, and rocked into her shallowly, not quite setting a rhythm. She made another sweet, high-pitched sound, moving to meet every thrust eagerly and lifting her chin to bite fanged bruises into his collarbone anytime he came close enough. Her hands were _everywhere_ \- sweeping down his spine, curling tight on his shoulders, dragging greedily over his chest and stomach, scraping claws lightly against his scalp and catching on strands of hair that pulled _just_ right - but her tightness was a constant, drawing him back in again and again, urging him to pick up his pace with every wet sound they made together. Jester cried out, loud and bright and so damn _pleased_ , when he thrust in quicker and deeper on the next stroke, and the way she _clenched_ around him felt like heaven.

The growl that rumbled against his back had him shivering, hips kicking involuntarily and drawing a squeak from Jester when it changed the angle slightly. Caleb groaned and dropped his head to mouth messily at her neck and shoulders as calloused fingers gripped roughly at his ass, Fjord nuzzling against the back of his neck and biting every bit of skin he could reach. The wizard finally found a proper rhythm, fucking into Jester to hear her _moan_ and feel how _wet_ she was, and pulling back to let Fjord _squeeze_ his ass with one hand and drag the _other_ down Caleb’s front to where he and Jester were joined. Claws splayed over his stomach, the barely-there scrape of them near _maddening_ , and then on his next thrust, Fjord was tucking a finger into Jester right alongside his cock.

The tiefling shouted, bucking against the sudden extra stretch. Her voice trailed into a trilling moan of Fjord's name when the half-orc fucked in deeper and crooked his finger against her walls. Caleb felt her _gush_ around him, wondered hazily if she had _come_ again, but she was still rocking back to meet his increasingly wild thrusts, squirming and whining when Fjord drew his hand away with a parting touch to her clit. A moment later, the paladin was pressing the hot brand of his cock up against Caleb again, so slick with precome - and with _Jester_ , too, the human realized with a low groan - that he slid easy in between Caleb’s thighs.

“Oh, oh _scheisse_ ,” he stuttered out as Fjord began to rock with him, rubbing himself against the shorter man’s pale skin with an indulgent rumble. Caleb felt his cock twitch and _throb_ inside of Jester, and _she_ must have felt it too, because her spine bowed off the bed and every panted breath turned to a cry, thighs beginning to tremble around Caleb and walls fluttering around his cock with each new thrust. Her tail curled and pulled at his thigh, urging him to piston into her harder, and a groan from Fjord told him that the half-orc could feel the shift of her tail against his dick as well. The next snap of hips against the wizard’s ass was rougher, a _pulse_ seeming to travel through the ridged length, a filthy mimicry of what Jester had felt inside of her, and Caleb couldn’t help the way he _moaned_ at the thought.

Fjord growled and nuzzled against the back of his neck, fingers _bruising_ on Caleb’s skin, and Jester _squealed_ and babbled a string of high-pitched Infernal, clutching at him _desperately_ when he fucked into her again. Her cunt clenched around him, and one of the ridges of the cock between his legs nudged forward to slide against his own shaft right at Jester’s entrance, smearing her wetness, and Caleb _whimpered_. “ _Close_ , I’m close,” he strained, too overwhelmed to know if he was speaking in Common or Zemnian anymore.

Jester fisted a hand in his hair and dragged his head up to crash their mouths together, fangs recklessly scraping his lips and tongue fucking into his mouth with abandon, her other hand working its way between them so she could get a hand on her clit. Fjord reached a hand to squeeze and knead at his ass again, almost _snarling_ as the jerk of his hips grew wilder, and he bit down on the nape of Caleb’s neck like he was holding him in place, like he was _claiming_ him. Jester let out a loud, sudden cry, voice arching over the sound tremulously, and her body _seized_ around Caleb, deliriously tight and _dripping_ wet as she came again, and when the next thrust was punctuated by a resonant _growl_ from Fjord as his cock began to pulse between the human’s thighs with his own orgasm, Caleb was _gone_.

He came with a low, pleading noise, mouth hanging open in surrender to Jester’s attentions, too out of his mind to kiss back. His eyes squeezed tightly shut and he felt his toes curl, overwhelmed by the hot rush of his release coursing through him, his awareness shrinking down to nothing but his pleasure and the bodies on either side of his own.

When the waves of orgasm finally ebbed, there were butterfly kisses being pressed to his cheeks and shoulders, gentle blue hands carding through his hair and broad green ones rubbing soothing circles against the small of his back. He wobbled dangerously, limbs too shaky to hold himself up properly anymore, and was swiftly maneuvered down onto his side on the mattress before he could just collapse. He could feel how _messy_ he was - Fjord’s release sticky on the insides of his legs, his own come and Jester’s staining his pelvis - but his companions seemed to pay it no mind; he was gathered up against a broad, warm chest, and cool, strong arms looped themselves around his torso, holding him close between them despite how he was certain his skin was growing tacky. Even though neither of them complained, he reached for words anyway, taking a few tries with how he could barely string a sentence together at first, before he finally slurred out a quiet _prestidigitation_ , cleaning the three of them off. Fingers returned to running through his hair a moment later, and he breathed out slowly, feeling boneless despite the pit of nerves that began to form in his stomach.

The pair of them seemed content to keep hold of him for now, but he knew it couldn’t last. He was a guest, here. He didn’t doubt that this had been good for them - the evidence of _that_ had been on his skin not even a minute ago - but that was all it was. Fjord and Jester were together, and they were happy together. They loved each other, and Caleb’s feelings didn’t factor into that, because even if they had invited him into their bed, a guest was always defined by their eventual, inevitable departure.

But they didn’t ask him to leave. Fjord turned his head to nuzzle and peck his temple, that low thrum that Caleb was now sure was a purr beginning to rumble in his chest. Jester stroked nimble artist’s fingers over his stomach and flanks, giggling softly between her own purrs at his occasional twitches. Neither of them seemed very inclined to move, limbs draping heavy over the human's - an entanglement they both seemed nothing but content to indulge in. Their breaths deepened and evened gradually, sleep creeping up to claim them quietly.

Caleb spared a thought to extricating himself from them, considered getting up and leaving now before they woke again and he had to hear them turn him away with their own words, but their arms curled a little tighter around him when he started to shift, and they both pressed closer, even while unconscious. Caleb stilled, shutting his eyes against the onslaught of emotion that washed over him, willing away the sting in his eyes and clenching his teeth against the way something in his chest unwound, something fragile and tender and _aching_.

The fear was still there, itching beneath the surface of his skin - but with Fjord’s warmth and Jester’s coolness curled around him, it seemed to slip further and further away, dissolving into the shadows that had seeped into the room as the evening grew darker outside. Caleb turned his head, looking at the way the last dying light of the sunset softened their faces, whatever was lodged in the center of his chest melting away. He exhaled slowly, tucking his face into the pillow and letting himself breathe through the way Fjord snuffled into his hair and Jester pillowed her cheek against his shoulder blade.

Perhaps he would lose this in the morning, but for now, he let himself sink into it, letting the comforting weight of other bodies and the sounds of matching purrs lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written smut with more than two participants before so I'm,, unsure how I did in terms of pacing and including everyone, but an effort was made!
> 
> Also if anyone thinks that there are more tags necessary that aren't already covered, let me know! I wanna make sure my work's properly tagged
> 
> Comments and kudos are always appreciated!
> 
> Hope y'all enjoyed~


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